Shorter women are more broody, say psychologists

Monday 14 November 2005 19.44 EST
First published on Monday 14 November 2005 19.44 EST

Tall women are less likely to be broody but more likely to focus on their careers than shorter women, according to a study published by British psychologists today.

Denis Deady at Stirling University and Miriam Law Smith at St Andrew's University believe taller women have higher levels of testosterone during puberty, giving them more masculine traits such as assertiveness.

But the hormone might also influence their attitudes to careers and starting families, they report in the journal Personality and Individual Differences today, based on their research with more than 1,200 women.